Rangers Vs. Bruins Game 1 Preview: A Showdown In Beantown Begins Tonight
Tonight will mark the opening game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals between the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins. It's expected to be a good one.
The New York Rangers and Boston Bruins will officially open up Round Two tonight at the TD Garden in Boston. Both teams are coming off of two battle-logged seven-game series, and this one won't be getting any easier. The Bruins were able to overcome a three-goal deficit in the final 10 minutes of Game 7, and later went on to win the game in overtime.
The Bruins never gave up throughout their series with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and neither did the New York Rangers. This is going to be one heck of a series between these two teams, and it all begins tonight in Beantown.
vs. 
New York Rangers (#6 Seed) vs Boston Bruins (#4 Seed)
Series Score: 0-0 TIE
TD Garden - Boston, MA- 7:30 PM
Television: NBCSN, TSN, RDS2 | Radio: ESPN NY 98.7
Opponent's Blog: Stanley Cup of Chowder | Tickets: New York Rangers Playoff Tickets
Some Quick Thoughts:
- The Boston Bruins will be without three of their key defensemen tonight as Andrew Ference, Dennis Seidenberg, and Wade Redden (well, this is awkward) will all be inactive. According to Bruins coach Claude Julien, it "doesn't look good" regarding the status of these three players throughout this series. Advantage Rangers.
- The Rangers continue to deal with their own set of injuries as Marc Staal, Ryane Clowe, and Darroll Powe were all absent from the morning skate once again. It doesn't appear that any of them will be returning anytime soon, but in the event that they somehow do, that will be a HUGE boost for the Rangers going forward. Don't count on it happening though.
Projected Lineup:
Carl Hagelin - Derek Stepan - Ryan Callahan
Mats Zuccarello - Derick Brassard - Rick Nash
Derek Dorsett - Brian Boyle - Taylor Pyatt
Chris Kreider - Brad Richards - Arron Asham
Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto - Anton Stralman
John Moore - Steve Eminger
Henrik Lundqvist
Martin Biron
Scratches: Marc Staal (upper-body), Darroll Powe (upper-body), Ryane Clowe (upper-body), Matt Gilroy (healthy), Roman Hamrlik (healthy).
